NORTHWEST ARKANSAS – The Ouachita Baptist University baseball team was eliminated from the Great American Conference Championship Final Four on Friday with an 11-3 loss to Henderson State at Arvest Ballpark.
Ouachita (37-17) will now wait to see if its name is called during the NCAA Division II Baseball Selection Show, which is set to air this Sunday, May 14 online at NCAA.com starting at 10 p.m. central time. The Tigers are seeking their second consecutive appearance in the national tournament and fourth overall. Coming into this this weekend's GAC Final Tour Tournament, Ouachita was ranked No. 4 in the central region. The top eight will compete in the regional tournament round next week at host sites.
In Friday's loss to the Reddies (33-21), the Tigers fell behind early 2-0 in the second inning and were forced to play catchup for the rest of the contest. Despite keeping HSU scoreless in the third, fourth, and fifth innings, Ouachita only managed one run during that time to give the Reddies a 2-1 lead heading into the sixth.
HSU rallied for three runs in each of the sixth, eighth, and ninth innings to build a commanding lead. The Tigers scratched across one run in the sixth and one more in the eighth just before leaving the bases loaded. Ouachita was retired in order in the ninth.
The Tigers totaled seven hits in the game, led by two hits each from
G. Allen and
Jud Arrington.
